Thrice Defied
by DeathandJunkfood
Summary: "Born to those who have thrice defied him..." When Lily Potter joined the Order of the Phoenix, she had joined it to fight Lord Voldemort. In a general sense. She hadn't imagined face to face duels with him – more – battling his minions of darkness, (that always sounded cooler in her head than it did aloud.) Voldemort was the presence in the shadows. Part of the Falling 'verse.
1. Chapter 1

**_A.N. I wrote this *technically* as part of my 'verse that started with_ A Rise and Fall _, but you don't by any means need to read that to read this._  
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 ** _Disclaimer... these characters belong to JKR._**

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 _August 16_ _th_ _, 1978, Diagon Alley._

When Lily Potter joined the Order of the Phoenix, she had joined it to fight Lord Voldemort. In a general sense. She hadn't imagined face to face duels with him – more – battling his _minions of darkness_ , (that always sounded cooler in her head than it did aloud.) Voldemort was the presence in the shadows, the watcher, the puppet-master. He was not, by any definition, a soldier.

But now Lily was standing in the middle of the main street of Diagon Alley, James at her side, and Voldemort was _right in front of them_. Her fingers slipped on her wand and she lifted it higher, hand shaking.

Beside her, James was grinning in a slightly manic way. Lily understood. That first pulse of adrenaline, that knowledge that the only thing standing between you and death was your own skill and a healthy dose of luck was always intoxicating. That was what had drawn them together, really. Recklessness and gallantry. Ideal Gryffindors, but not the sort that would be expected to live a long, safe life.

But for now, James was at her side and Lily was at least pretending to be brave so she lifted her chin higher and looked Voldemort right in the eyes.

He was pale, his head almost floating above his dark robes and she could see the faint red gleam of his pupils even from this distance. His features were strangely fuzzy, almost _melted_. Like candle wax. And he was smiling. Lily would remember that. He was smiling, not in the reckless, we're-probably-going-to-die-so-let's-go-out-with-a-bang way that Lily and James were, but in a cold calculated way that made Lily want to sink to her knees in fear. And then he spoke.

"So. This is the pride of the Order of the Phoenix."

Lily raised an eyebrow at the high, cold voice. She hadn't imagined him sounding like that, and from the look on James's face, neither had he. The two of them were standing shoulder to shoulder, not touching, (they'd learned long ago that even brushing shoulders would slow them down in a fight) and Lily could just see him out of the corner of her eye, but she'd always been good at reading him and right now he was too cocky. The set of his mouth, the curve of his shoulder… he was getting careless. She kicked the side of his shoe and James straightened up.

"Children hardly out of school…"

Lily swallowed. Christ, they were young. Sometimes it still surprised her. It was August, 1978, and a few months ago they'd been trooping down to the greenhouse every Wednesday for Herbology and sneaking up to the Astronomy tower for parties.

Voldemort seemed to zero in on their hands, hanging close together.

"And married."

"Right," James said, and if Lily didn't know him impeccably, she wouldn't have imagined that he was terrified. "Are we going to fight or are you just going to Apparate out of here like all the other times you've been cornered?"

Voldemort studied him. "A pureblood… I never willingly spill blood like yours. Hers, on the other hand-"

He seemed to hardly move his wand before Lily was ducking under a jet of angry green light, heart pounding in her ears.

They shouldn't even _be_ here. This was supposed to be a routine patrol through Diagon Alley, weeding out the small groups of Death Eater sympathisers that sometimes glued leaflets over the shop windows. And it was supposed to be Lily and Emmeline Vance – James was off duty. But Emmi had come down with a bad case of dragon pox and then Voldemort had just _appeared_ , and here they were.

"No time for niceties," Lily murmured to James. "If you get a shot, you kill him."

" _Decristo,"_ James shouted, slashing his wand viciously and Voldemort blasted aside the swirl of black with ease.

"This is what Hogwarts is teaching now? How to _kill_? You've become the very thing you feared."

Lily took a step back, using James as cover as she moved round Voldemort's side. "Battle not with monsters," she muttered to herself, and then; " _Aruspices pellere_!"

Voldemort threw up a non-verbal Shield Charm.

They couldn't win like this, this polite trading back and forth of curses. So Lily slipped closer to James and tapped his hand with her own, alerting him to the change of plans. They'd developed a sort of battlefield short hand to communicate.

The two of them attacked, sending curse after curse at Voldemort in a dizzying hurricane of light and noise. When Lily wasn't casting curses, she was flinging up wide Shield Charms that surrounded both her and James and every spell bought them another step forward. James at her side never stopped casting, his lips blurring as he shouted and spoke and whispered, cajoling the magic out. It was brutal and graceless and Lily loved it, the raw power of the magic swirling around them, the way she could hardly see Voldemort through the thick maelstrom, the way James was a steady, sure presence.

A heavy noise reached Lily, and she spun just in time to see a burst of white blue light and see James fly past her, borne into and through the nearest shop window.

She set her jaw and kept her wand up.

" _Sectemsempra!"_ Lily screamed, angry now, and scared.

A slash appeared across Voldemort's pale cheek and for a second she stared, shocked. It seemed impossible that Voldemort was really flesh and blood and bone. From this distance he seemed waxen, and it was easy to believe that he was just a statue. But the glint of red was undeniably startling across his skin, and Lily raised a Shield Charm just as Voldemort sent a non-verbal spell at her that made the air ripple and her hair stand on end.

She was starting to tire, the tingle of magic that she normally felt in her palms beginning to dim and spark out. And James was lying somewhere, hurt badly, at the very least.

A rope of fire circled around her, making sweat run down her face and searing her skin pink. Lily was brought to her knees by the sheer power of the spell, and the heat of it. She kept her head up and shot a Reductor Curse at Voldemort that was blasted contemptuously aside, taking out a window display of caldrons. Lily struggled back to her feet, extinguishing the circle of fire.

 _Wake up James_ , she thought, _damnit, I need help. And I really need you to be okay. That most of all._

There was a collection of gentle pops from down the street behind her, and then a deluge of spells. For a second Lily had tensed, until she recognized the figures coming up beside her, flinging hexes and curses and throwing up Shield Charms. It was the rest of the Order. Alastor Moody was there, grim and grizzled, and Sirius was grinning, and Dorcas Meadowes was extracting a groggy looking James from the broken window, and Edgar Bones clapped Lily on the shoulder before joining the fight. In a swirl of black, Voldemort was gone.

Lily flung herself towards James as the other grouped into a circle, wands still up.

James had a few bloody cuts on his face and bare hands and he was walking shakily, but Lily wrapped herself around him tightly.

"Did you really use the Bat-Bogey hex on Voldemort?" she spoke into his shoulder, voice muffled, and he nodded.

"Fabian keeps owling me about using it."

"Me too…" Lily said. "He made me swear that if I ever met Bellatrix Lestrange I'd use it on her."

"Fabian's a weird kid."

"Mm hmm."

"Hey Lily," James said, and she could hear the grin in his voice.

"Yeah?" she asked, lifting her head and resting her forehead on his so their noses just brushed.

"We just fought Voldemort," he whispered.

"That we did. Excellent job, Mr Potter."

"Why thank you, Mrs Potter."

Lily met his lips with hers and she could taste salt and ash and the metal tang of blood, and the only thing she could feel was relief.

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 _ **A.N. Thank you for reading! I've wanted to write this for a while, but never got around to it. Finally inspiration struck and here we are. There'll be two more chapters, for the two more encounters with Voldemort. Reviews are treasured!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer... these characters belong to JKR_**

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 _November 30_ _th_ _, 1979, the Ministry of Magic._

The second time James and Lily met Voldemort was in the middle of a battle. James was willing to bet that not many people could say they'd met Voldemort twice and lived to talk about it. Frank and Alice Longbottom, newly graduated from Hogwarts and even more recently married were standing beside them when Voldemort swirled into view.

The first Killing Curse ricocheted past Lily and headed for Frank when Alice shoved him out of the way and crouched, bobbing back up with a Reductor Curse.

The four of them spread out, Lily and James an arm's length away from each other as they caged Voldemort in. The constant blasting of spells and curses occasionally missed him, or ricocheted off his Shield Charms to bounce around the circle.

Most of the Order was there. Someone had gotten a tip-off about a massive wave of Death Eaters, coming in to Imperiuse Ministry officials in an effort to overthrow the Ministry. They were fighting back to back with Aurors as black cloaked Death Eaters swirled through the battle – their grace disquieting in contrast to the brutal spells.

Lily's Babbling Curse, (James sincerely hoped she was joking) shot past him to land squarely between Voldemort's shoulder blades.

"Lily what the _hell-_ " he started to shout, before he realized what she'd done. Voldemort whirled on Lily, shouting nonsense, and James grabbed her around the waist, dragging her down to avoid a curse that never came.

With the Babbling Curse working, Voldemort could only cast non-verbal spells, and even for a wizard like him, that would tire you quickly, especially when four other wizards were attacking you.

Alice Longbottom started to twirl a lasso of flame with the tip of her wand before neatly landing it over Voldemort's head. Slashing his wand down, the flame turned black and angry and shot back at Alice. James could smell burning hair as it roared past her head.

Lily sent another curse at Voldemort, but he moved just slightly, missing the spell. James held up a Shield Charm as the curse shot past him and it bounced off the invisible barrier, connecting with Voldemort. Not missing a beat, they caught each other's hands and squeezed tightly for a second before jumping back into the fight.

For the brief moment that their fingers were connected, James held on as tightly as he could.

All around the hall, Death Eaters were falling. The four of them redoubled their attack – Frank and Alice stood together and shot identical curses towards Voldemort just as James and Lily barraged him with hexes from the other side. He should've been dead hundreds of times over. James just couldn't understand.

Even powerful wizards weren't invulnerable, but that's what Voldemort seemed to be. The only thing James had seen that came close to this was the strange protection on his Invisibility Cloak. Spells didn't affect it and James had never been able to figure out why.

He moved without thinking, his body on autopilot as he ducked and cast spells as fast as he could. Between the four of them, Voldemort was being constantly bombarded with curses. No one could withstand it for long.

"ENOUGH!" Voldemort screamed, and a curse that was dark grey and smoky shot from his wand and _detonated_. James found himself flying backwards through the air. _Not again_ , James thought, reaching out helplessly for Lily.

It seemed to take quite a long time to fall, long enough that he was able to gesture where he hoped Lily was and conjure a Cushioning Charm.

He hit the ground hard, and rolled back up to his feet, swaying slightly. Voldemort and the Death Eaters were gone. A little ways a way, Lily lay on the floor, utterly still.

 _No, no, no_.

James skidded across the slick marble floor, one of his legs not cooperating and he dropped to his knees by her still body. She was stirring groggily, and James slipped an arm under her neck, supporting her head.

" _Fuck_ ," Lily swore, opening her eyes. "Is he gone?"

"Yes," James said distractedly. "Are you ok?"

Lily grimaced and sat up, one hand on her stomach like she was feeling ill.

"Oh god."

The hand went to her mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick."

James hastily conjured a bucket and pulled her hair away from her face as she vomited, still shaking.

After a moment she sat back, face pale.

"Did you get cursed?" he asked her. She'd never been squeamish before – she leapt into duels and emerged from them easily, like slipping into and out of water.

"No…" Lily whispered, the hand still at her stomach. "I'm ok. Well. Yeah, I'm ok."

She wasn't looking at him, her eyes trained on the marble floor.

"Why the 'well'?" James asked suspiciously, and she shook her head.

James wasn't sure what to make of her. He wanted to hold her, but she still looked fragile, and he knew she wouldn't appreciate being comforted.

"I'm pregnant," Lily blurted, and then clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. "I didn't mean to say that, shit. I was going to sit you down and make you tea and light the fire and say it properly. I didn't mean to do it like this-"

James didn't quite know what to say, but he did know that there was fierce, protective, overpowering joy surging through him. Instead of saying anything, he leaned forward and carefully gathered her into his arms. For a moment, she was stiff. It had taken them both a long time to learn how to take comfort from each other – neither of them were particularly tactile, but after a second she relaxed.

Lily felt so fragile in his arms, even though he knew exactly how strong she was.

"We're going to be parents?" he whispered.

She nodded, her chin digging into his shoulder. James could feel a damp patch on his shirt and realized she was crying silently.

"We're going have a baby," Lily whispered back, holding him tighter.

All around them, the Aurors and the members of the Order were picking themselves up – repairing spell damage to the Atrium and healing bruises and scrapes. There were three dead.

Two Aurors, a man and a woman, pale and broken in death, and an older man who had belonged to the Order. They lay in front of one of the fireplaces, draped in their cloaks.

James looked away from them, concentrating on Lily. She pulled away, smiling brilliantly at him as he cupped her face in his hands.

"You're going to be a great mum," he murmured.

"You'll probably make a decent father," she allowed.

"I'm going to be a _dad_ ," James realized, grinning like a loon. He'd always liked kids, and he thought maybe one day after the war was done, he and Lily might have one, but here, _now_ , Lily was pregnant and he couldn't be happier.

"I'm going to get so fat," Lily sighed, tilting her head so it rested on his shoulder.

"Yeah…"

"Love you."

"Love you too."

James pulled her to her feet and the two of them stood there, motionless as people bustled around them, arms tight around each other.

"It's going to be ok, you know," James said eventually.

"What d'you mean?"

"We're going to win this. We're going to survive. Our kid won't have to grow up like this."

Lily nodded, jaw set. "God – that terrifies me. But you're right. They'll never have to fight."

"Never," James echoed, realizing that it was a promise that he couldn't be sure of keeping.

The corner of Lily's mouth quirked up. "What'll we call them?" she asked quietly. A few people were starting to stare at them as they stood motionless in the Atrium, but James didn't care.

"Mm. What about Eleanor Euphemia Potter for a girl?"

"You're terrible at naming things," Lily said sadly. "That's a horrible name; imagine how much she'd be teased"

"Ah well."

James rested his hands lightly at her waist. "We have plenty of time."

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 ** _A.N. Thanks for reading! Please review._**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer... these characters belong to JKR_**

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 _Prologue_

Of course, Lily didn't know it at the time, but this was the last fight she would ever win against Voldemort. She'll think about this fight, as the door of Harry's nursery is blown open. She'll remember the fierce, victorious joy flooding through her body, and she'll remember placing a hand on her stomach, where her baby was just beginning to live. She still has a year. Over a year, in fact, and that year will be filled with happiness. It'll end in horror, of course, but she doesn't know that yet, and she won't know it until she's five minutes away from death.

But this fight… Lily _dreams_ about this fight, afterwards. She and James have always been reckless and she knows that's not a particularly good thing, especially now that they're about to be parents. Still, she can't quite help herself from flinging herself headlong into the middle of every battle.

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 _February 20th, 1980_

"Why is Voldemort even _here_?" Lily shouted across to James.

They were standing in the huge foyer of the Lestrange mansion, ducking under curses and blasting away spells.

In one corner, Bellatrix Lestrange stood with her back against the wall, laughing madly as she flung curses at them. She was darkly beautiful, and she looked very much like Sirius, with the same dark sleek hair and hooded eyes. On Sirius though, his good looks were friendly and warm. Bellatrix's were deep and tangled, like roots on an elegant old tree.

Emmeline Vance was with them, and the three of them were severely outnumbered. Bellatrix's husband stood on the stairs duelling with Emmeline who was fighting another hooded Death Eater at the same time. James was fighting Bellatrix, and Lily could tell it was taking all his skill.

And Lily was fighting Voldemort and in the spaces between spells she didn't even have time to breathe.

"I dunno" James shouted back, somehow managing to sound nonchalant despite the snarl on Bellatrix's face. "Maybe he's vacationing with them"

Lily smirked at that and ducked under a bolt of green light, fighting her way up the stairs, her head down. Finally she stood at the top, opposite Voldemort.

He was even more inhuman looking than the last time she'd seen him. His nose had flattened into slits and his eyes were redder and madder.

"You're strong," he called across, over the tumultuous music of magic. "You and your husband both. I could use people like you."

Absently, Lily's hand flattened across her stomach.

"You want us to _join_ you?" she asked incredulously.

"You would be protected," Voldemort said. "Honoured. Your husband is a pureblood – and you – witches of your power, whatever their – _undesirable beginnings_ – are rare."

"Hey James!" Lily shouted, not looking away. "Fancy joining the Death Eaters?"

"I'm good!" James called back, and Lily shrugged.

"Sorry. Guess you have your answer."

Voldemort's thin pale lips drew back in a snarl and he raised his wand again. Lily took one faltering step back before pressing forward, whispering and shouting and urging the magic on. It was glorious. Her veins were aflame and she was burning perfectly and purely in the grip of all that _power_.

And Voldemort fell back. She could see it on his face, what he was going to do a second before he did and she leapt forward, crashing into him. The two of them toppled backwards over the low railing of the balcony.

The robes in Lily's fists whipped away as Voldemort Disapparated and she fell down, alone to the ground. The hard marble floors surged up to smack her and she curled around the pain until there was a warm hand on her shoulder.

"That," James said, sounding faintly awed. "Was the stupidest thing I've ever seen."

Lily groaned and sat up. "When I tell this story, I'm definitely telling people I threw Voldemort off the balcony."

"Of course," he said, helping her up. "I think you deserve that."

Emmeline Vance hurried down the stairs, looking concerned. Her sleek hair had fallen down around her face and there was a smudge of dirt on one cheekbone, and an ugly scrape on the other.

"They all just left!" she said, sounding rather indignant. "I was winning, too. Are you alright Lily? That was quite the fall"

"Yeah, I'm ok." Lily rested an anxious hand on her stomach. It _hadn't_ been that hard of a fall, but she was still concerned.

"We should get to a Healer," James said, following the motion of her hand. Lily could see tense worry in his eyes and tried her best to smile reassuringly. "Emmi, can you debrief the Order? They should know about this."

Emmeline nodded quickly, giving Lily a gentle hug before hurrying out the door. Lily heard the muffled _crack!_ as she Disapparated and leant back against James.

"We could just take the Floo," Lily said, eyeing the black marble fireplace.

"You'd throw up."

"Probably," Lily admitted. Now that the adrenaline had dissipated, she was feeling rather shaky. "Are you alright? That hex Bellatrix got you with looked nasty."

"I'm fine. And I got her back with the Bat-Bogey hex."

Lily sighed in relief. "Oh excellent, now Fabian will stop bothering me."

The two of them were silent for a moment.

"Did he really want us to join him?" James asked.

Lily looked up at the high vaulted ceiling. It was cold and dark in the Lestrange mansion, and she wanted to leave.

"I think so," she said. "He seemed serious. And – impressed. If we had wanted to, I think he would've taken us."

"That's really weird. Right – we should get you to Mungos, yeah?"

"Yeah," Lily agreed, as a wash of nausea went through her.

James took her elbow gently and the two of them left the deep silence of the empty Lestrange house.

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 _ **A.N. Thanks for reading!**_


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